


I Came Back

by NorthwesternInsanity



Series: Dave Mustaine and Metallica Abandonment [3]
Category: Megadeth, Music RPF
Genre: Angst, Fear of Abandonment, Fluff, Gen, Reuniting, Unconditional Love, band brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 20:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12043971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthwesternInsanity/pseuds/NorthwesternInsanity
Summary: Dave's fear of being abandoned by those he trusts comes true again -but he finds out that not everyone who leaves is gone for good, and even those who leave in bitterness will come back if they truly care and posses the unconditional love of a brother....





	I Came Back

Dave sighed, settling in on the couch at his California home. After a long tour, it felt great to be back. Touring was fun and all, but beyond a certain point, home was definitely better. Especially these days.

It was early February 2010. Things were getting rough again, as James LoMenzo had decided he was leaving the band. Since the disbandment of the nineties lineup, things just hadn't been the same. 

Marty had left to pursue a different band with a different style, having wanted to go further in the direction that Risk had gone in, and knowing it wasn't possible to do successfully in Megadeth. It had hurt when he left the band, even though Dave knew he wasn't doing it in any bitterness or on bad terms, and Marty had made sure to make it clear that it had nothing to do with how he felt about Dave and there were no demons between them. It had helped significantly with the panic that Dave felt with departure, but it still had been rough. 

Marty had even made efforts to communicate with Dave after his departure to make it seem that he wasn't leaving just for the sake of abandoning Dave -most likely due to a traumatic nightmare Dave had where Marty had been the instigator of a whole band abandonment -but his communication had been less frequent overtime, and now ten years later, it was almost non-existent. He just had too many things to do on his own to keep up with it.

Marty on his own leaving wouldn't have been so bad, but it was the surgery for that blasted, impassible kidney stone triggering a relapse of addiction when Dave had finally managed to get completely clean and not have any desire to use that screwed things up with Nick and David. After recovering from the drug relapse, and the nerve damage in his arm, Dave found that Nick was no longer in touring condition, prompting the addition of Glen and Shawn Drover.

But David... The common, loyal one who had always stayed... Dave had not been able to wrap his head around the sudden adamant bitterness the bass player was putting out. Suddenly, not only was the one friend he could trust to never leave him abandoning him, but he was spewing with anger, hurling a lawsuit. No matter what the fine would have been had it gotten through, that would have been nowhere near as painful as the reality of who it was coming from. That it was coming from somebody Dave saw like his own little brother he never had was what hurt the most.

Being entirely off the drugs and no longer addicted and dependent did make the anxiety of the abandonment easier to deal with. It also prevented Dave from feeling so angry about it as he had back in 1983 after Metallica had left him at that bus station in the rain. 

But now, it just felt so empty and sad.

A few minor lineup changes had been made, such as the departure of Glen and his replacement by Chris Broderick. Rather than panicking or feeling angry, Dave just felt depressed and like his energy had been drained out of him. Like his body was reacting in dread. Like it was now at James' departure.

Oh boy, here we go again..." Dave sighed to himself in the empty quietness on the house, feeling like just curling up where he was on the couch and sleeping. There was nothing else to do, and he didn't feel like doing anything fun or going out and being active with this dull ache through his body. He was extra tired, having come off of a long tour, so he eventually decided to do just that. Who cared if it was only 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon? He wasn't obligated to be anywhere.

Little did Dave know that Shawn had come up with an idea for a replacement bassist. Without telling Dave. And said bassist had agreed to consider it.

*************************

"Look, I know some things happened in the past, not too long ago -but you've even said publicly it's settled now, and you've gotten over it. Dave's not angry -if anything, he's just really bummed out about this going down right after a tour. I think if there's any time for you two to talk, put all that in the past for good, and consider a fresh start -it's now."

Hanging up, Shawn smiled and went to go do some more work on his drums, thinking to himself:

_Surprise, Dave! I think this is something you'll like..._

**************************

Dave awoke from his slumber on the couch, fuzzy headed and yawning. He blinked to clear his hazy, waking vision and looked at the clock, finding it was only 6:30 now.

Only two and a half hours? No wonder I'm still tired -I figured I would probably be out most of the night. Why the heck am I awake? Wondering to himself, Dave was just about to put his head back down on the couch pillows, when a high pitched, two-toned chime caused him to startle.

The doorbell? Who? Dave realized that the doorbell was probably what caused him to wake up in the first place, but having woken out of a deep sleep, he hadn't heard it initially. 

Deciding he'd best go look peak through the window to see who it was at the door -even if it was just some door-to-door salesman and he didn't end up getting it.

Peering carefully around the door at the windows framing the sides, trying to see who was outside without them seeing him until he determined it was somebody to answer to, Dave saw a man standing on the porch, and all of a sudden, adrenaline hit him like a brick. His stomach dropped, and his heart pounded.

Standing on the porch, was a man with shoulder length, honey blonde hair that had thinned and grayed a bit with age. He was wearing a thin windbreaker over his clothes, as it was a rare, windy, misty and rainy day for California. In age, he had lost his innocent kid appearance and without a doubt was now a strong willed, independent person, but he still had the soft puppy eyes just as he had in 1983. 

David. No longer was he "Junior", but he was there the same as he'd always been, just slightly older and no longer the kid. And he didn't seem bitter, or unwilling at all -he looked... Anxious? He looked apprehensively at the door, like he was eager for an answer.

Just as David reached out to hit the doorbell the third and final time he decided he would before giving up, Dave quickly swallowed the wave of anxiety that hit him, and reached out, pulling the door open fast.

"David?" Dave barely got out the long-lost bass player's name before he launched himself forward, and all of a sudden, he was being pulled into a tight hug. He didn't care that the rain gathered on the younger man's jacket was dampening his clothes, but was instead hit by shock. Slowly, he snaked his arms out to return the hug awkwardly, not sure what this meant.

And as Dave did, the turbulent sea of years of separation, sadness, and lonesomeness began forming into a storm within him. A swelling rose in the back of his throat, and before he could stop it, tears had risen to his eyes, leaving him helplessly afraid to say anything further, knowing what that would result in. 

"Shawn called. Said something about your bass player leaving. He said we should talk, Dave -and I think he's right." David explained, releasing Dave from the hug. "Let's go inside."

Dave nodded, leading David, his long lost brother back inside, keeping his head down toward the ground so his hair covered his face. But the second he sat down on the couch and felt the weight on the other side of the couch shift as David sat down next to him rather than choosing to sit away from him in the chair catty cornered to it, the flame haired guitarist brought his hands up to his face, lowered his head, and lightly shook with soft crying. 

"Dave?" The bass player bit his lip, concerned, placing a comforting hand on Dave's back. He couldn't figure out why he had fallen apart and become so upset. 

Dave heaved a shuddering sigh, bringing the sobs under control, scrubbing at his eyes in a fatigued way before finally lifting his head, tears streaked across his face.

It clicked. "Oh Dave... No, I'm not still upset with you in the past -you don't have to worry, it's not what I'm here for..."

Dave shook his head. "You came back," he gasped.

David nodded, and tried to look Dave in the eyes with a warm, reassuring smile. "I did come back. I had some thoughts that I'd be better off on my own, without Megadeth, and I don't know why, but I had some bitter thoughts too. But I thought wrong. And if you're okay with me coming back -I know Shawn is -I'm here to stay then."

"I thought you hated me, David... I don't know what I did wrong, but-"

"It's in the past now, Dave. It's in the past." David kept an external calmness, knowing that this visit had dug up some recent past trauma that Dave had buried, and stirred up the anxiety of another bandmate leaving, but he suddenly felt awful, realizing just how deep a wound his departure and abandonment had left. "I'm not gonna leave again. I know better now. Unless that is, you'd rather me go away."

"Oh God, David..." It was all Dave could do to hold back another round of sobbing. "Of course I'll let you back in Megadeth -and of course I don't want you to go away. You were my brother, and I lost you -I didn't ever think you'd come back, and the past few years... I can't-" Images of being left at the bus stop in 1983, the horrible nightmare he'd had where all his bandmates left him behind an ultimatum, and when David had left and the bitter words he'd said were crashing around in his mind, and it was agonizing. "J-just, if you're doing it to only make Shawn and I happy, don't. You need to do what makes you happy, or it'll just happen a-again..."

Dave wasn't sure when it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was being hugged by David again, and comforted.

"No, Dave, no. If I didn't want to come back, I wouldn't be here right now. Leaving Megadeth is one of the biggest mistakes I've made, and cutting ties with my brother is another. I'll come back. You just let me know what I need to learn that's been done in my time away." David patted Dave's back again, trying to get his panic down, and this time, he succeeded. After a few minutes of silence, Dave calmed down, this time composed and stable.

"So what really made you decide to come back?" Dave asked, giving a final sniffle.

David smiled. "Because even if not by blood, we're brothers, Dave. And a true brother never abandons his brother. They may separate for a while and lose each other due to life, changes -and even when one leaves his brother in true bitterness and hate, unconditional love goes beyond that -and he'll come back someday. I left, but I said I'd never abandon you Dave. And now, I'm here with you again. Because I came back."

Dave sat in silence, processing what he'd just heard. Outside, the fog and mist was lifting away, and all of a sudden, the dull ache and heaviness that had weighed on his chest and over his heart for almost a decade seemed to dissipate as if it had never been there. There was still a scar left behind that would hurt if he delved into his memories of the time, but now, he just felt an overwhelming happiness and a feeling of being rid of some illness he'd had for so long that he'd forgotten it was there.

Then, Dave reached out, and hugged his brother. His long lost, true brother, that had finally come back for him. He hadn't abandoned him, just as he'd promised back in the 90s that he never would.

"David, brother... I love you, buddy. I've missed you -so much. Thanks for not abandoning me -for coming back." He smiled, gratefully.

David nodded. "I've missed you too, brother. Now, let's call Shawn and write something to return with that will bring the house down!"

Dave climbed off the couch slowly, standing up to find that this time, he wasn't feeling quite so tired or sore. Actually, he felt alert and energized -now at 7:00 in the evening. And he couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the hyper grin David wore as he ran to the door, practically hopping from foot to foot in anticipation of meeting up with Shawn and Chris.

He was just as eager and energetic as the same kid bassist in 1983 that had rescued Dave from the uncontrolled spinning he'd been left in by his previous band, and helped him start the one that had always kept him going through his troubles.


End file.
